Beechwood Cinemas showed movies at 196 Alps Road for 62 years before it closed on Thursday, July 25, 2024, as the Athens Banner-Herald reported. The ground where it stood, next to TJ Maxx, is now a lawn called Beechwood Park. The center's announcement describes it as a place "for the next few years," to be used "while we build what's next for Beechwood."
That short shelf life is what makes the park interesting. Beechwood's manager has said for two years that he wants the center busy at night. The lawn, the restaurants that opened around it this year, and a holiday calendar of evening events are that idea being tried out in public before anything permanent gets built on the old theater lot.
From Screens to Grass
Since it opened, Beechwood has been built around indoor anchors. According to Flagpole, which republished a Grady Newsource story, developer D. D. Saye bought a 200-acre farm and used it for both the shopping center and the Beechwood Hills neighborhood next door. Here is how that one property has changed over six decades:
| Year | What changed at Beechwood |
|---|---|
| 1961 | Center opens with Kroger, Winn-Dixie, Woolworth and a Repsol drugstore |
| Later expansions | A two-story Sears arrives; its space now holds The Fresh Market and Michaels |
| 2019 | Athens firm Polias begins operating the historically family-owned center |
| July 25, 2024 | Beechwood Cinemas closes after 62 years |
| Feb. 2026 | Historic Athens puts the theater's signs up for auction |
| Nov. 1, 2026 | Fall Festival scheduled as the unveiling of Beechwood Park |
Grocery stores, a drugstore, a department store and a cinema made up most of that history. In every row of that table, one building was swapped for another. The park is the first change where a building was replaced with open ground and an invitation to stay a while.
The unveiling was supposed to happen sooner. The Fall Festival was first set for Oct. 11, and weather pushed it to Sunday, Nov. 1, from 2 to 4 p.m. The center's posts promised face painting, a photo booth, tenant tables and giveaways, kids' crafts from Michaels, treats from Playa Bowls, Your Pie and Paris Baguette, and free sliders from Ted's Montana Grill. Guests were asked to bring a lawn chair or a blanket. The park's debut was planned as a picnic-style party, with a guest list built from the tenants surrounding it.
The Plan Was Said Out Loud in 2024
In December 2024, after the cinema and the CVS had left, Polias founder Dave Mulkey told Grady Newsource, in the story Flagpole republished, that he wanted the two empty spaces to become "more activated at night with restaurants and fine dining." In the same piece he described the overall goal as "trying to activate it morning, noon and night, and creating uses that are synergistic," and promised "a lot of sidewalks everywhere" to make the center easier to walk.
That story also counted what had already arrived. Lululemon, Crumbl Cookie and Sephora had come in over the previous few years. Hibbett Sports, Buckle and La Parrilla had filled the old Stein Mart space, and First Watch had just opened as the chain's first Athens location. Athens Church had opened a second campus with a 1,000-seat auditorium at the back of the center.
Measured against those 2024 quotes, the park fits right in. A lawn can host events in the evening, and the center describes it as temporary. It gives the "morning, noon and night" idea somewhere to happen on the old theater site while that site waits for whatever comes next.
2026 Filled In the Dinner Hours
Most of what arrived on this end of Alps Road this year leans toward later in the day:
- Ted's Montana Grill opened at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 24, at 196 Alps Road. The Athens Banner-Herald reported it was the chain's 37th restaurant nationally and its 12th in Georgia. The Banner-Herald's pre-opening story listed daily hours of 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Warby Parker held its grand opening at Beechwood on Saturday, Aug. 8.
- Shake Shack opened across the street at 161 Alps Road on Wednesday, March 4. It was the chain's first Athens location and its 10th in Georgia, with ordering done at kiosks.
Ted's also brings a piece of Beechwood's history back. According to the Banner-Herald's roundup of 2026 restaurant openings, the restaurant sits in the same space where company CEO George McKerrow opened Athens' first LongHorn Steakhouse in 1992. The paper called it "a homecoming of sorts." On a property that has gone through several rounds of reinvention, Ted's is a 2026 opening that reconnects with Beechwood's past.
Among the tenants Polias listed for Beechwood in October 2026 are REI, Sephora, Starbucks, First Watch, TJ Maxx and HomeGoods, The Fresh Market, Orangetheory Fitness, Loft, Chico's, Chicken Salad Chick and Willy's Mexicana Grill. The same leasing page shows three open suites. Two of them, at 1,800 to 3,500 square feet and 3,045 square feet, are marketed for food and beverage. More restaurant space is still being offered at a center that has been pushing its evening hours for two years.
The Holiday Calendar Runs After Dark
The best test of the evening idea comes over the next five weeks. Beechwood's free Holiday Market returns on two nights, both from 6 to 9 p.m., according to the Visit Athens event listing.
| Date | Event | What's listed |
|---|---|---|
| Friday, Nov. 27 | Tree Lighting Festival | Tree lighting, a holiday concert by The Big Beyond, Santa, hayrides, food trucks including Cafe Racer, s'mores, hot chocolate, face painting |
| Saturday, Dec. 12 | Holiday Carnival | Carousel, slides, photos with Santa, hayrides, food trucks, s'mores, face painting |
The Tree Lighting is the night after Thanksgiving. If family is in town and everyone is ready to get out of the house after a day of leftovers, it's a free outing on Alps Road that starts at 6 p.m. The Dec. 12 carnival lands on a Saturday night, about two weeks before Christmas.
Both nights fall inside the 6 to 9 p.m. window, the evening hours Mulkey said he wanted to fill. The Visit Athens listing doesn't say exactly where on the property each activity will be, so check Beechwood's website for the layout and any weather updates before you go. The center already had to reschedule this fall's festival once because of weather.
A Lawn With an Expiration Date
The theater lot is now an open space where people can gather, with Ted's Montana Grill, Your Pie and Playa Bowls nearby, and it arrives the same year the center added new dinner options and scheduled a holiday season after dark. The center's own announcement presents the park as a bridge to "what's next for Beechwood."
For people who live a short drive from Alps Road, the practical upshot is simple. The lawn is there now, the two holiday nights are on the calendar for Nov. 27 and Dec. 12, and the theater lot's open-air chapter is meant to be short.
Beechwood is using its in-between years to show people what the property can become, and a lot of homes reach that same stage before a sale. If you're thinking about what your house could look like at its best, Ellen McLemore Real Estate can help you plan that next chapter with care. Schedule your free Revival Home consultation.
